Star Wars: Lost and loging

Equally as concerning for Palpatine was that the events, as they had occurred, meant his information on the strength of the Wookiee's planetary defenses and their collective preparation for assault by external forces was woefully and possibly dangerously inaccurate. The beasts should not had such a profound success against the surprise raid that had sprang up literally from nowhere. They certainly should not have been able to completely stop the raid, at the very least, a handful of ships with slave cargo should have escaped.

Palpatine closed his eyes and inwardly cursed his complete lack of intelligence connections on the Wookiee home planet. It was one of the few he had no minions or spies on. Wookiee society was simply just not one of those where he could just insert a non-indigenous species spy and waited for them to ingratiate themselves with the local government through lies, bribery and manipulation and begin to provide information. It just simply didn't work on that planet given some of its history. The animals were just not welcoming of any outsiders without some bizarre qualifications that seemed to shift depending on the day.

Palpatine clenched his jaw before smoothing his expression out. He knew that his apprentice had approached it with his typical meticulousness and attention to detail. The plan had even staggered the arrival times of the various cartel members so that at least one or two of the ships that had already been planet side well in advance of when the attack began in earnest could've left orbit before the wookiees even realized that members of their population were being forcefully culled.

But unless the wookiees were lying to save face, none of the ships had escaped. Palpatine dismissed that idea out of hand. The beasts weren't canny enough to know the value of disinformation. And he knew that wasn't him being arrogant, he was well aware how wookiees could take even small white lies as grave offenses. He had mediated more than one dispute because the brutes fixated on an offhand comment and wouldn't let matters rest until their honor had been satisfied.

The Wookiees had, unsurprisingly already announced that interrogations had begun, and that once completed, would likely result in standard wookiee justice for slavers. It was time to ensure that loose end was halted before it could bear fruit.

Palpatine lifted his cowl to cover his face before he activated several of the silencing and counterintelligence devices he had throughout his office. Several of the devices were redundant, but he was nothing if not cautious. Then he activated his personal holocom.

It was almost a minute before the call connected, though that wasn't a surprise. Palpatine knew the call was being rerouted and bounced hundreds of times to hide the transmission points. Even if they managed to intercept the communication, and then somehow managed to crack the difficult encryption that he changed with every call. Then they'd still have difficulty tracking the source or destination of the transmission. However, the holocom beeped and finally resolved into the face of his apprentice Darth Tyrannus. Or as he was more well known, Count Dooku.

"Yes, my Master?" The count's refined voice answered through the com. He made no attempt to hide his face, his cultured aristocratic features showing arrogance, which showed even through the distortion of the holocom field.

"My apprentice. The assault of the slavers on the wookiees was a miserable failure. Not a single slaver's ship escaped," Palpatine's statement was short and to the point.

Count Dooku in his normal manner reflected very little shock, merely raising one eyebrow to register his surprise.

"Most unexpected," was the even and calm response.

"Yes," Palpatine agreed, nodding slightly. "This will require damage control. Eliminate all middlemen who were involved in the negotiations and distribution of information. Their liquidation must be complete."

"That work has already been completed, Master," Dooku replied with a faint smile, "You stated that you did not wish it to be traced back to supporters of either side of the conflict. None of the contacts involved in this operation were valuable, and it was past time for some of them to be silenced anyways. Their usefulness was at an end." "Good. Good," Palpatine practically hummed as he nodded slightly in approval of his apprentice's forethought. "However this brings up another problem. The Wookiees cannot be too strong. I have plans for their race for after our ascension that require their… efforts, immediately."

Count Dooku didn't reply, he simply tilted his head slightly, indicating that he was awaiting Palpatine's further comments or instruction. He did not disappoint.

"We must move up our plans for the assault on their world. They must be made pliant prior to the end of this war. They cannot be seen as a bastion of strength for any outlaw Jedi. Nor do I want Kashyyyk to be a source of resistance after our ascension. I will not allow that possibility to exist," Palpatine stated in a voice was hard and implacable. "Further, we must decimate whatever unknown defenses they have immediately, otherwise I will not have the labor force needed for our long-term plans."

"I believe we could make arrangements to attack the wookiees," Count Dooku responded in a voice that was musing and far more urbane in response to his Master's harsh tone. "It won't be hard to sell the merits of such a campaign to General Grievous. The planet represents a target with at least some strategic value. And while they may have defenses to fight off a slaver attack, an invasion force is something else."

There was a pause before the Count followed up. His cultured voice was filled with curiosity. "What of the systems neighboring Kashyyyk? They would present a target after Kashyyyk is conquered. Should they be pacified as well?" Palpatine shook his head, "No, we have accurate information on their defenses. Their fleets, what there are of them, are weak. They will pose us no trouble, nor do I want to give them further incentive yet to find ways to bulk up their defenses. We knew little of the wookiees and were certainly not expecting a complete repulsion of the slavers."

"Should we worry about the intervention or aid of any neighbors if we attack?" Dooku asked curiously.

Palpatine's voice turned soft and thoughtful, "No, the wookiees are proud and won't even consider asking for aid until it is nearly too late. The priority here is their defenses, they must be decimated." "In this case it may just be best to occupy and take over the planet," observed Count Dooku.

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